Old fashioned? Certainly! Infrequent? Definitely! Underestimated? Without doubt! Dangerous? You must draw your own conclusions, but the Vienna Game deserves a place in the repertoire of all players. With 2.Nc3 White prevents the freeing thrust ...d7-d5 and keeps open the option of f2-f4, hoping to transpose to a superior King’s Gambit.

For the Grandmaster, the Vienna can be used as a surprise weapon. At club level, everyone will be ready for 2.Nf3, but do they have the same level of preparation against 2.Nc3 on move two? Very doubtful. On this new Chessbase DVD International Master Andrew Martin argues that the Vienna is a good practical choice. White can steer the game into all manner of interesting positions according to Black’s response. He may play sharply or positionally. Black must respond very accurately to demonstrate equality.

Video running time: 3 hours 42 minutes.

IM Andrew Martin is 50 years old and is the manager of Coaching for the English Chess Federation. This is his 15th DVD for ChessBase.

System requirements: Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard.